DAY 30

Put on the whole armor of God

The Apostle Paul writes, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God so that you will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil in the evil day”. The evil day comes to all of us. Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulations but be of good cheer I have overcome the world.” We have an adversary in this world called the devil. He comes to condemn us and to afflict us. He uses the Law of Moses to do this. Under the Law of Moses if you committed a sin the Law would condemn you and God’s judgment for your sin (the curse of the Law) would afflict you. Jesus came as our Savior. He redeemed us from the Law and its curse by becoming our sacrificial Lamb, our Substitute. At the cross God placed our sins on Jesus. Then God judged Jesus for our sins. Jesus died on the cross. His innocent blood testifies to the Father that our sins have been paid for in full therefore his blood justifies us. To be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might is to be strong in the revelation of what took place on the cross. To be strong in Lord is to be strong in the truth that Jesus has paid for your sins in full; therefore Satan cannot condemn you for you are forgiven. He cannot afflict you for Jesus bore your judgment. At the cross Jesus made an exchange with you. He became sin. He bore your sin. You became righteous. He gave you, as a free gift, his righteousness. At the cross our old sin nature died with Christ. It was buried with Christ and we resurrected with Christ a new born again, new creation in Christ. Our spirit is perfect before God. The old man was cut off of our hearts. We were circumcised in our hearts. Our heart of stone was replaced with a heart of flesh. However our bodies have not been redeemed yet. Our old sin nature still resides in our bodies. The Bible calls this your flesh. We are to renew our minds to our new identity in Christ Jesus and count ourselves dead to the flesh. However as long as we are in these mortal bodies we will continue to sin. The Good News is God does not count our sins against us. Satan will always come against us when we sin and condemn us. If you are not strong in the truth of the Gospel you will fall under his condemnation. Once you are under his condemnation he will afflict you. We are to put on God’s armor so that we can withstand his attacks. We are to gird our loins with truth. Fill your heart with the truths of righteousness, peace, salvation and faith. The last piece of armor is the Sword of the Spirit which is God’s word concerning your redemption in your mouth. You will overcome in this world with your faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the truth of what Jesus did for you on the cross. The Bible paints you thousands of pictures of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection so that you can be rooted and ground in God’s great love for you.

Prayer

Father I thank you for giving me your armor to wear. I thank you for giving me your righteousness as a free gift. I thank you for reconciling me to yourself and being at peace with me. I thank you for your great salvation that has redeemed me from all sin and its judgment. I thank you for giving me your faith that I can use as a shield and for your word I can put in my mouth as a sword against the devil.

Confession

The gospel of Jesus Christ declares that I am redeemed from all sin and all judgment for sin. Jesus took my sin and gave me his righteousness. I am reconciled to my Father and he has made me his son. I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. No judgment has a right to come on me for I am the healed and the forgiven.